Love Will Break Us All
by Loorry
Summary: AU. Elena meets Damon on college, and from there on their whole past seems to caught up with them. Just something that pop up on my head, and I had to write down.
1. Please allow me to introduce myself

"_Just as every cop is a criminal  
>And all the sinners saints<br>As heads is tails  
>Just call me Lucifer<br>Cause I'm in need of some restraint  
>So if you meet me<br>Have some courtesy  
>Have some sympathy, and some taste<br>Use all your well-learned politesse  
>Or I'll lay your soul to waste<br>Pleased to meet you  
>Hope you guessed my name"<em>

_Sympathy for the Devil – Rolling Stones_

Elena Gilbert was someone who had learned to be alone in a very young age. Maybe she was innocent when 10, maybe she was a believer at 15, but when her parents died in a car accident, her 18 years old self completely forget how to trust. She became a mother to her brother, a daughter to her aunt and a mystery to all of her classmates. The once it-girl from Mystic Fall became Elena, the girl with a messed up family and a constantly sad look on her face.

Her friends kept around, Bonnie made her stronger everyday, Caroline made her laugh now and then, and when the pain was too much to take, Matt was always the shoulder to cry on, even if they never came back to being the high school sweethearts they once were. For a while she thought she was never going to be able to move on, but time came and took the sadness with it, leaving just an ideal.

Her mother always talked about travelling, always said how she would love to visit the entire world if she could, but in the end, Mystic Falls had taken her soul along with her entire life. So Elena decided she was going to get her mother's dream accomplished, and the first step to do so, was getting out of that city.

Her senior year passed on a blur, between books and sleepless nights, she had managed to leave the city for college and somehow brought along Caroline and Bonnie with her, both had realized that if they wanted to spent some time with their best friend, they were going to have to get into the hole "study madness phase" - as they liked to call - and so they did. Now, with 21 years old, Elena found herself in a new town, sharing a house with both her best friends. The emptiness still untouched in her heart, but on the path she wanted for herself.

It was past midnight and Elena sigh loudly when she realized Caroline probably wasn't sleeping in again. That was the fourth night in a roll that the girl didn't come home. Apparently, her friend had taken upon herself to visit every single bar in town before she was twenty two, and Elena was starting to become worried. When Bonnie was around, she always managed to get Caroline in line, but she had been traveling for about two months now and Elena had lost the will to try and do something about the hole situation a long time ago.

She closed her diary and looked over the window, still hoping to see some movement or sound that indicated her friend was home. She was surprised when she actually saw an old, dark blue car parking on her front yard. Laughers could be heard, and Elena realized her friend was probably drunk and, worse, she seemed to have company. Not really in the mood to play mom, she quickly got into her bedroom and decided she wasn't opening that door for absolutely nothing in the world.

The voices went louder when Caroline and her company got closer to the house, the sound of the door opening coming next.

"You're soooooooooo bad" her friend's drunken voice reached her bedroom and she put a pillow above her head, trying to muffled the sound. It didn't work much.

"What are you doing on the hallway? Are you paralyzed by my amazing moves?" the laughter became even louder as Caroline had fun at her own joke.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" a man's voice reached her room along with the laughter that followed it. "Ouch, I feel hurt." Elena rolled her eyes.

"If that's all it takes, then by all means, come in…"

It all happened very fast, one second she was annoyed by Caroline's drunk laughter, the other, her friend's scream send chills trough her spine. She went to her feet without thinking, opening her door and running to where the sound was coming from.

Elena Gilbert was never that easy to scare. Sure, with the right movie, the right story, she would get a little frightened, but in the end, she was strong girl, and with all that had happen in her short life, she was getting really good in not being surprised

Well, she was surprised.

Her heartbeat went almost completely gone and she felt sweat running trough her spine. Caroline was in the center of the living room, a slightly open mouth and eyes wide. Elena's eyes went to the man in front of her friend; she could only see his back. He was wearing a leather jacket and had dark hair. But what he was doing seemed to be the scarier part; his head was dipped in Caroline's neck, in a way that Elena thought his was kissing it for a moment, but just a moment. There was a trail of blood running from her friend's neck to chest, and Elena breath got caught in her throat when she realized he was biting it.

"Hey!" she screamed without thinking. "Get away from her!"

The guy's head instantly snapped, as he slowly turned to face her, dropping Caroline fully on the floor. When she finally saw his face she instantly gave some steps back. His eyes were bright red, and there was blackness around it that she couldn't place; he had blood all over his mouth. He stared at her for a while, coking his head slightly to the side, covering her body with his eyes from head to toe. A smirk crept over his lips as he took some steps forward.

"Aren't you a silent little thing…?" he said in a sing-song voice. His eyes traveling along her barely covered body. "And a hot one too, I might add…"

She kept stepping back until she reached the wall behind her, her thoughts running fast. She followed his lips as he talked, realizing there was something different about it. _"Fangs"_ she though with a shiver. He stopped, analyzing her moves, like an animal circling his prey.

"So…" He started, and one second he was standing still far from her, the other his was right on her face. A small gasp escaped her lips, making a smirk appear in his lips. "Is my presence disturbing you?"

She didn't answer and his smirk grew wider. He brought a hand to her cheek, getting his face even closer to hers, his touch sending chills trough her spine.

"You know what?" he said with a playful voice, stepping back and giving her some space to breathe. "I like you…" a smile spread along his dark features. "You're not running around like some blond chick from Scream just because of my mere appearance… That's…" he rolled his hands in search for the right word, suddenly coming too close to her again. "…refreshing" he let out on a breath.

"What… what the hell are you?" she managed to get the words out in a raspy voice.

He stared her amused. "Oh…" he started in a cold voice. "I can't even start to explain to you what I am… but you see… The beauty of it is that I don't really have to…" his eyes went directly to hers, piercing trough her soul. "…do I?"

She kept staring at him completely transfixed by said eyes. A smirk spread across his face as he got closer, his eyes never leaving hers. "You want me…" he said with a smooth voice. "Don't you…?" he leant down in order to kiss her and that's when she snapped.

Her hand almost moved by itself as she slapped him fully in the face. She didn't even had the time to see his surprised eyes, when adrenaline kicked in and she started to run away from him. She didn't go far when she felt a hand coming in contact with her neck, and she was strongly pushed into the wall.

"How did you do that?" he demanded with a raspy voice.

"Let go of me!" she spat, trying to fight him, but her efforts didn't seem to have any effect on him. He kept staring at her eyes, like he was searching for something.

"I asked you a question…" he said coldly. "I would answer it if I were you."

She had no idea what he was talking about, neither did she cared. Her eyes traveled along the room trying to find something to hit him with. She spot a pencil in the table next to her, she tried and reached for it while keeping eye contact with him.

"Answer it!" he demand, a tear escaped her eyes and fell on the hand he had on her neck, he stared at it for a second. That was all it took for Elena to grab the pencil and stick it fully into his stomach.

He let go of her neck and bent down in pain, she took the opportunity to run for the phone they kept in the kitchen. She heard a gasp coming from him and she realized he must have taken the pencil off; she changed her path, reaching for the closest draw, only finding a slightly sharp wood spoon in there. _"That will have to do"_ she though as she prepared to face him again.

She waited for a while in the kitchen trying to hear any sound coming from the living room, but nothing did. Her hard breath was the only sound around, until she finally heard a groan coming from the place she just left.

"Caroline…" she whispered, running to the living room, when suddenly she heard a noise coming from behind her. Almost in a reflex she fully turned, sticking the spoon into whatever was behind her.

It took her a second to realize she had hit the right target, as the guy fell on his knees, an angry look being quickly replaced by a slightly amused one. She didn't even stop to think, running to the leaving room, while trying to put the pieces together.

_ Permission to come in, blood, neck bites, fangs, weakness to wood…_

Her brain was a mess when she finally reached Caroline. She got on her knees in front of her friend not sure what to do, but knowing that she had to do something, and quickly. A noise came from the kitchen and she got desperate.

"Caroline! Caroline! Wake up… come on, wake up… wake up…" she chanted to her friend, tears falling from her eyes.

When Caroline finally started to move Elena let out a breath of relieve. She tried to hear anything that would indicate _he_ was still in the house, but nothing came. It took her a while to find strength to get up, heading for the kitchen in a slow pace.

The place was completely empty. She waited for a while still expecting to find him in any corner, but there was nothing to be found.

Elena Gilbert was not one to scare easy, but when the realization finally sink in and the adrenaline left, she felt her blood slowly drifting from her face, as darkness slowly started to surround her. The last thing coming trough her mind, not only did scared the hell out of her, but also would make her world go upside down.

_"Vampire…"_

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><p><strong><em>Next is Damon's POV... <em>**

_**Would simply love some reviews *puppy dog eyes*, I mean... since this is my first fanfic I'm taking critics, tips... whatever I can get...**  
><em>


	2. What am I waiting for?

**Thanks so much for the reviews, I happy ****you're enjoying the story, I'll try and update it at least twice a week.**

**BTW, I know that wasn't the most romantic meeting ever, but keep I mind that at this point Damon is the cold heart BAMF he was in the "Pilot", things will change ;)**

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><p>"<em>I'm hiding from some beast<em>

_But the beast was always here_

_Watching without eyes,_

_Because the beast is just my fear_

_That I'm just nothing_

_Now it'__s just what I've became_

_(…)_

_So, give me something to believe"_

_Believe – The Bravery_

_Bored_. That would probably sums up Damon Salvatore's state of life till this very point. 169 years of the most pure boredom, enough to send a guy straight to madness, and sometimes he wondered if he was already there.

It was bar after bar, club after club, drugs, sex, women and apparently that wasn't enough. Damon got to the point where he realized life – or post-life for that matter – was about little enjoyable moments, the power of creating fear, the ability of seducing and conquering your prey, the first amount of blood that hits your throat when finally achieving your goal, the almost erotic feeling of having someone's will bended against your on. It felt good to be a vampire those times, but in time between times, it all pretty much sucked.

Humans constantly underestimated the sensation that was to be hunted, to be low on the food chain. Sure, being a vampire certainly made you feel strong, you know your power and what it can make you achieve, but being human somehow could made you stronger, like having the notion of how weak you actually are can give you power to overcome it and fight back.

_Fight back._

And that was what she had done. She had had fought back and for the life of him, that night hadn't been boring at all. After a more than a century of games, he ended up being played. She had found the strength that most humans forget about, she had found it and used it against her attacker, and it surprised the hell out of him.

That was the reason he was still there, he tried to convince himself. That was the absolutely only reason for a century old vampire to be hiding on tree's tops, playing Edward Cullen to an unknown random girl. Her ability to not easily give up on life was what made him take her after she fainted and place her carefully on her bed, that was also the reason for him to compel Barbie there to not remember a thing and wear her new trending scarf to class the follow day. It made him clean up the house leaving no track of his presence there and parked his car on the other side of the neighborhood so that no one would recognize it.

The sun had just started to rise and Damon played with his old ring without really realizing it. _"There is also the non-compelled factor"_ he remembered. He hadn't smell any _vervain_ on her, what made him think that maybe she was ingesting it, but why would a random college chick be drinking _vervain_, it wasn't exactly the easiest thing to find, nor was it cheap.

He kept staring at her front window, watching her sleep, she was wearing an "almost-not-there" pajama that had caught his attention right from the start. _"Right, the pajama got your attention"_ he mocked himself with a soundless laugh. Who was he kidding? The girl was gorgeous, right from her chocolate piercing eyes, to the smoking body that came next. He had noticed it from the started and he wondered if he was more curious about the non-compelling part or angry by the fact that it hadn't worked. She was strong, that one, there was a fire in her that he seemed to remember, though he couldn't quite place it, he only knew that he liked it.

Hours passed as he stood there, waiting for any indication of activity in the room. At some point, Barbie had woken up and headed to college with her new scarf, but the other girl remained soundly asleep. He rolled his eyes when it got past 7 a.m., getting ready to leave the task to another time when a noise behind him caught his attention. He fully turned and stared at the trees alarmed, he could feel it, there was another vampire around. He waited until the presence was finally gone and frowned as he stared the empty sight.

He was ready to go and investigate the place where the sound had come from when a yawn came to his ears._ The girl was awake_; he turned to the window to find her getting up from bed and looking around, a confused expression on her face. She blinked a few times until her expression change from confused to absolutely terrified.

"Finally got it" he whispered to himself.

He watched as she ran to her friend's bedroom, finding out that it was empty. Not satisfied, she went to get her phone, dialing the numbers in a hurry.

"Caroline!" she said with relieve when her friend finally picked up.

"What? I'm in class!" he heard Barbie spat in a whisper from the other side of the line.

"What?" the girl looked confused again. "How… I mean, are you ok?" she asked with a worried voice.

"I'm fine… what's going on?"

There was a silence while the girl went through the house, finding it completely untouched.

"Are you still there?" Caroline whispered when she got no answer.

"Yeah… I'm…" the girl let out a nervous laugh, as her hand came to rest on her hair. "I'm sorry… I just had this extremely weird dream…"

"Really? You just call me in the middle of class because of a bad dream?"

"Yeah, yeah… I guess… Sorry" the girl rolled her eyes.

"Oh well… you know me, anything that takes my mind away from history is welcome enough."

The girl laughed, but she still had a suspicious look on her face.

"Ok then… just… Carol?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you be coming home early today?"

There was a sign on the other side of the line. "We've been trough that already, ok? Let's just agree in disagree, I really don't wanna fight."

The girl closed her eyes for a second, letting out a breath.

"Sure. Whatever you say… Bye, Carol."

"Bye, Elena"

The phone call ended, and the girl threw her phone on the bed nonchalantly. She placed a hand on her forehead looking around with a tired look on her face. Her eyes closed for a second, and then she smiled softly, moving her head side to side.

"Just a bad dream…" she whispered to herself.

Damon stood there transfixed by every move of hers. _"Elena"_ He had been wondering what would be her name, he liked it, and somehow it really fitted her. _Wait_, but he was just curious, that was it. That was the only reason why he would be getting ready to follow her now, because he was curious and had nothing better to do. No big deal.

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><p>Elena's day went by on a blur. From home to college, class to class and then home again. She got into the house, letting her bag slip to the couch while supporting herself on the wall, her eyes closed, and she let out a breath. Her mind wasn't giving her a break, flashes from her dream kept going through her mind not letting her forget about it. It all seemed so real, she was still having a hard time believing it was just a dream. It wasn't only the memories, but also this strange sick feeling that there was someone watching her the whole day.<p>

"Stop… just stop… you're been crazy, Elena." She chanted to herself.

Suddenly the sound of loud voices reached her bedroom.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me…" she said, when she recognized Caroline's drunken voice. "Two nights in a roll… wait…"

It all came back on a rush. That hadn't been a dream. It couldn't have been a dream. She remembered too much of it, it had been too real.

"Shit!" she cursed, as she ran to the front door before her friend reached it, snapping it open.

Caroline had the key in her hand, and looked surprised to see Elena, there was a guy behind her.

"Elenaaaaa…" she let out with a laugh. "That's good, I couldn't… really… put the key…" the blonde stared at her with unfocused eyes. "But here you are!" she yelled, throwing her hand in the air.

Without thinking Elena grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her inside the house, staring at the guy in front of her. "_It's not him"_ she thought instantly. The guy came closer to her, but didn't got into the house.

"Hello, sweetheart" he said in a slurred voice. "Why don't you loose that frown and join our little party?"

"Yeah! Join us Elena!" Caroline let out with a laugh completely oblivious to Elena's tension.

The guy started to come closer and Elena backed of further into the house. Her breath caught on her throat when he easily crossed the doorstep and she wasn't sure if she was relieved or just plain scared.

He walked until he was face to face with her, she could feel the smell of alcohol in his breath.

"Get out of my house…" she said in a whisper, trying and making her voice stronger than she actually felt. "Get Out Now!"

The guy put his hands up in a peace offer.

"Chill… I was just trying to have a fun night…" he said backing of with a laugh. "No need to get all dramatic..."

She watched as he left the place, and let out a breath of relieve. She stared at Caroline angrily while snapping the door closed.

"That was the last time. Got it?" she said harshly.

Caroline only nod, still too unfocused to put up a fight. Elena headed into her direction in order to take her to in her bedroom, when the door bell rang. She turned fully to the door and opened it slightly.

"What now?" she asked angrily.

There were three guys at the door. One of them stared at her head to toe and licked his lower lip.

"So…" he started in a condescend tone. "Elena, I presume…"

He got closer to the doorstep while facing her, his eyes getting darker with every move he made. She felt a shiver run through her spine.

"Would you mind if a come in?"

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><p>Damon kept looking at the scene without really believing his eyes. The house was completely surrounded. There were three vampires at the front door, and about twenty spread trough the perimeter of the place.<p>

He could sense they were all extremely young, even for his only one century self and kept wondering who had turned that amount of people and why they were all after the same girl.

He felt his stomach contract when she actually opened the door to the first three, watched as she realized who they were, took her friend by the hand and dragged her to the nearest bedroom. _"Stupid move"_ He thought as one of the other vampires knocked at the bedroom's window, while Elena was distracted looking for some kind of a weapon, and compelled the blond girl to invite him in. He watched as Elena tried to stop it from happening, just to be shoved to next wall by the vampire that got in. And then he couldn't watch it anymore.

One second he was on the nearest tree watching the scene, the other he was jumping into the bedroom, taking the vampire by the neck and throwing him on the opposite wall.

Elena gasped. Caroline screamed. And Damon only rolled his eyes. Oh well, if he was defying his on kind to save some random girl he'd better do it with style. He walked to the almost knocked out vampire, taking him by the shirt and easily pulling him up.

"So… what's with this whole convention?" he asked lightly.

"Why would you care, dude?" the vampire let out with a gasp.

"Well, first of all I wasn't invited… that's offensive. Second of all…" he took a branch he had taken from tree he was at, sticking it into the vampire's stomach. "You don't get to make questions here… _dude…_" He added with an ironic whisper.

"Now that we have all of this cleared up, let's start over." He put the vampire on the floor only to grab his neck and push him against the wall. "What you all want?"

"I can't tell you." The vampire said desperately. "She would kill me, she would kill all of us."

"Well, newsflash: If you tell, she kills you, if you don't, I will… Sounds to me you have a choice to make, but let me give you an advice…" he spat. "Whoever _she_ is, I'm the one with your neck in my hands right now. I'd be extra nice to me."

The vampire considered for second before closing his eyes and let out in almost a cry.

"Katherine. Her name is Katherine."

Damon felt an angry urge come out of him without really realizing. He instantly let go of the vampire's neck, as a hundred flashes pierced through his mind. _A girl in a beautiful dress playing in a garden with a guy he didn't recognized. _He bent as his head almost exploded, his hand coming to rest on his forehead.

The vampire took the opportunity to leave, and he must have warned the others, because when Damon finally came to his senses, he couldn't feel any vampire around. He stared blindly at some spot in the wall, when finally a week gasp came from behind him.

He slowly turned to see Elena pressed on the opposite wall, her lips were slightly parted, and her eyes were wide, but she had an almost worried expression on her face.

"Well…" He got up and walked some steps to her. "I believe the word you're looking for is 'thank you'."

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><p><strong>So, I'll be traveling for a couple days, but I should be able to post the next chapter around next week.<strong>

**Like usual, would loooooove some reviews... ;)  
><strong>


	3. What happens next?

**Sorry, I've been extremelly busy latelly, but I surely didn't gave up on this story, there is a lot more to come... **

**Anyway, Damon and Elena finally have an entire conversation *cheers* Hope you enjoy it ;)**

"_Maybe redemption has stories to tell_

_Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell_

_Where can you run to escape from yourself?_

_Where you gonna go?_

_Salvation is here__"_

Elena kept staring at him like he was some kind of apparition and the whole thing was just some really elaborated nightmare. He let her be for a while, before finally roll his eyes in exasperation.

"What? Am I wearing a pink wig or something?" he snapped, putting his hands up incredulously. "You should at least be yelling, running around… You know… like she is about to…"

He stared at Caroline, and Elena followed his eyes to her friend. The girl was crushed against the wall, eyes wide open, a ghost of a scream plastered on her face.

"Carol…" she ran to the blond, knelling beside her not sure of what to do next.

She felt him getting closer to her from behind, and turned instantly.

"You!" she said, with more bravery than she actually felt. "Stay away from us!"

He put his hands up in surrender and gave her a smirk.

"Whatever you say…" he stepped back a little and smiled at her in mockery. "Is this enough space to be _away_?"

She stood up, facing him angrily.

"What the hell is going on here?" she spat. "Who were those people, who are you? Or should I say _what_?"

"You should say what. I have absolutely no idea who they were. And me…" He offered his hand for her to shake. "I'm Damon. Damon Salvatore."

She kept staring at him dumbfounded. Looking at her easily like that, he almost seemed human. She looked at him, from his hand up to his eyes, and stopped on those. They were the most penetrating blue eyes she had ever seen, and there was something behind them, something that she recognized, and it made her calm down instantly. He smiled a little when she didn't shake his hand.

"Well… No hard feelings I guess…" He shrugged. "Now, let's just make some things clear. I'm not here to hurt you… kill you… mistreat you… or any of that stuff that must be going on through your mind right now… Okay?"

"It didn't seem like that last night." she answered.

"Yeah… about that… I wasn't really going to kill anyone, you know?" he said nonchalantly. "Just a little blood here… a bit of fun there… no big deal…"

"No big deal?" she yelled. "So you were just going to use me and my friend as some kind of toy, and its no big deal. Really?"

"You forgot the part where I wasn't going to kill you… That was kind of an important part." He answered.

"Well, then what's with the sudden change of heart? Don't feel like playing today?" she kept yelling. "What the hell are you? Some kind of psychopath? Just get the hell out of my house or swear I'll…"

"What? What are you going to do?" he said playfully, swaging with every word.

She lunched her fist to his face, but he hold it before it hits its target. He got closer to her face, still holding her fist, his eyes moved from her eyes to her lips and back again, as he swallowed hard.

"Don't you ever do that again." He whispered and let go of her hand.

She felt her heart beat fast and let out a breath she didn't realized she was holding. He kept staring at her, waiting for her to react, but she had nothing left, the whole situation was just too messed up. He took her silence easily.

"I guess now is my turn to make questions, check?"

She didn't answer; he didn't seem to expect her to do so.

"Great!" the playful smile came back to his face. "So, first things first, have you ever heard about a plant named vervain?"

She stared at him confused, and slowly shook her head indicating "no". He nodded and kept going.

"I'll assume from your lovely display just now, that you have never heard of vampires either… Am I right?" he asked in a sing-song voice.

"Yes." she answered with a shiver.

"Right. And those dudes probably weren't familiar faces as well…"

"No."

He clapped his hands cheerfully.

"Very well! Questions answered, now you see…? Wasn't even that hard, was it?" He asked in an ironic happy voice.

She rolled her eyes.

"Now… About your friend." He started. "We, vampires, have these nasty little tricks that can come quite handy, you see; I little trust on your part and I can make your friend forget about this whole mess, sounds good?"

Elena looked to him, and then to Caroline, the girl seemed stuck in one facial expression, her eyes wide open, as tears were starting to drop from them. She contemplated what to do. Apparently he had done it before, erased her friend's memory, or else she would have remembered the night before. So, it wasn't a matter of if he could do it, or even if she trusted him to do so, because - for the life of her she could not understand it - but she kind of did trusted him. The whole matter was to decide if that was the right thing to be done.

Damon seemed to understand her doubt, 'cause a second later he got closer to her and said in a low voice.

"It's dangerous for her… to know things. I would make you forget if I could, but for some reason you seem impossible to be compelled."

She furrowed her eyebrows as the new piece of information sank in and then realized he was probably right. Caroline was brave, and Elena was sure she would be extremely pissed of if she ever find out what she was considering of doing, but that same bravery made Elena doubt if she would ever be safe by knowing some creatures were trying to get a hold of her best friend. Without thinking any longer, she just nodded and somehow, she knew he would understand it.

One second he was in front of her, the other he was taking Caroline by the shoulders as the girl let out a whimper.

"Easy, easy…" he whispered, as he locked eyes with her. "Listen to me; you won't remember what happened tonight. You came home late, you drank too much, Elena put you to bed, that's all you remember, everything is just fine. Now sleep."

Elena watched as her friend's expression changed from horror to calm as her eyes closed, and a soft smile graced her features. Damon easily laid the girl down to her bed and looked at Elena.

"She will be fine." He assured, she nodded.

"And now what?" she asked suddenly.

He raised his eyes at her and gave a small shrug.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"What do _you _mean?" she spat.

He closed his eyes for a second and made a face before answering.

"There comes the yelling again…"

"Well, I'm sorry I can't be just okay with everything that's happening!" she did yell. "What do you think I mean? What am I suppose to do right now? There's a bunch of creatures that a day ago I didn't even know existed after me, and you're judging me? Really?"

He rolled his eyes.

"Well, yeah. And to answer you're question, I have no idea what you're supposed to do. You're not in a great place, I'll give that. So, you know… Good luck…" He said with an ironic smile and headed for the window.

Elena stared at him in shock.

"You can't be serious. After everything you'll just leave me to die, just like that."

"Yep, don't need anymore problems. Got plenty of my on, thank you very much."

He gave her one last look before jumping out of the window and disappearing into the night. Elena stayed there, confusion plastered all over her face. She heard Caroline stir in her bed and that's when she snapped. So she was alone in this… It wasn't the first time really, she just needed to figure this out and everything would be fine.

In full action mode Elena left Caroline's room and headed to her on. Without even thinking about it, she opened her computer, facing Google's front page and typing one word.

**Vampires**

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><p>Damon stirred in his stoll at the bar calling the attention of a few drunk guys that were close by. He pointed at them with his scotch.<p>

"Problem?" he asked with a fake smile.

The one closer – an aged man that smelled like alcohol and cheap cigarettes - let out a happy, exaggerated laugh.

"I guess your lady have been giving you a hard time, my boy…" the guy said stumbling through his words. "Girls nowadays have mind of their on, you should be careful with that. A woman with a good head…" he pointed at his own for emphasis, spilling most of his drink on the bar stool. "…sounds dangerous!"

Damon nodded.

"You have no idea." He said in a lazy voice.

The guy just nodded.

"Be happy though, young man. Those strong minded woman tends to be the most outstanding ones, and you know why?" he asked, not really waiting for an answer. "Because they know they can be hard, they know they're worthy it…"

_Young man_. Damon smile at that. That man had no idea of how wrong he really was, but he did made a point about woman, a drunken point, but still. He downed the drink he had on his hand and gestured the barman for another one. After the night he had it was only to fair to fall into drunkenness and just forget for little while.

He hadn't left Elena unguarded. The main reason being the fact he wanted to find out who that Katherine person was, and why her name kept messing with his memories. The second reason – not that he would admit it to anyone - was that he wouldn't leave her alone, he couldn't.

The night passed by as he watched her typing in her computer furiously. From time to time she would stop at some page and read it, it would cause her eyebrows to furrow, or gave her a worried face, but all and all, that was basically the only thing she had done the whole night, excluding everything, even sleeping. Witch put Damon in the same position, making it the third night in a roll he had spent awake, and tiredness was starting to catch up with him.

The barman gave him a new glass of scotch before moving his eyes to the sound that had just come from the bar's door. A look crossed the barman's face as he took his notepad as to take an order.

"No need for that."

Damon almost dropped his glass as he recognized the voice and turned to place it had come from. Elena was standing there, a defying look plastered all over her face. He collected himself before shooting her a smirk.

"Missed me?" he let out with a sly voice.

She rolled her eyes, heading for the place his was at and sitting beside him.

"I need you." She said bluntly.

He raised his eyebrows.

"Well, that will do… should we go to a more private place?" he said in a whisper.

"I fine where I am." She answered without hesitating.

"Oh… In public? Nasty Elena…"

"Damon."

He stared at her, hearing the sound of his name on her voice. The condescending tone she applied to it, it made him smile a little.

"Yeah?"

"I need some answers. And unfortunately you're the only vampire I know who doesn't want to kill me, I think."

He nodded.

"Good guess."

"So, first of all. Are all the stories true? Crucifixes, holy water, wood stake, sun…"

"You got two of four." He answered.

"Wood stake… and sun?" she guessed.

He just nodded.

"You do drink blood, and apparently you can compel humans in doing what you want… except me." She continued. "Any hypotheses on why is that? You said something about a plant…"

"Vervain… it will keep you from being compelled, it's also poison to us." He said.

"I know… I got this." She went trough her bag and pulled out a small box with what it seems to be jewelry, she also took a small bottle with some known violet plant in it. "The guy on the store said it was vervain. Is it legit?"

He looked at her in awe, taking the bottle from her hand; the smell hit his nose painfully.

"Yes, definitely legit. Where did you find that?"

"Some weird guy named Zach with an antiquary, according to internet we have plenty of those around…" She stated simply. "He also said this jewelry was supposed to keep the vervain so you can wear it all the time, you know, I thought about giving it to my friends. Will it work?"

He nodded, still impressed.

"_Friends_ you say…"

"My friend Bonnie came home this morning, she was at a convention and now she's back." She explained it. "I told then that there was a serial killer around that only attacked at night so that they'll come home early… I not a very good liar, but I think they bought it"

She stared at him, like she was waiting for a confirmation that all of that would do, that it would keep her friends safe. He kept staring at her completely amazed, some interesting little creature she was, and a fast one as well, apparently the two hours he had left her alone were time enough for her to set up this whole scenario.

"You seem to be taking this entire situation quite well…" he stated.

Elena shrugged.

"It's all I can do really." She answered simply. "Despair will make nothing for me right now."

"True that." He agreed.

They sat there quietly for a while. Damon could feel her eyes on him and kept staring at his untouched drink. A few minutes went by until the silence was broke by the drunk man beside them.

"So that's your lady?" the guy practically yelled, sizing Elena with his eyes. "What did I told you, hun my boy? What did I told you? Outstanding!"

Elena had a confused look on her face.

"What is he talking about?" she asked.

"The question is why are you even listening?" Damon replied, purposefully ignoring the man. "The guy is obviously drunk…"

"It seems to running around…" she stated looking at the drink in his hand.

"Please… It takes a lot more than that to make me even slightly close to drunk."

"Uhum…" she answered incredulously.

Damon turned in his stool and fully faced her.

"Can I help you in anything else?" he asked nicely. "Because if not, better leave me alone with my drunken friends and humorless drinks."

"I don't know… Can you?"

"What?"

"Help me in anything else?" she asked pointedly.

He looked at her and considered it for a while. It was pretty obvious that if he wanted any information on Katherine, Elena was the right person to be around. It also wouldn't hurt that his presence made it harder for her to die, I mean, it was kind of a waste such a flighty little creature to go down that easily. And after all she was the one making the hard choice; she was choosing to trust him.

Elena watched surprised as he got up from the stool, threw some money at the bar and pointed at the door with his head.

"Maybe I can't, but I do know someone who might know a little bit more about our friends from last night" He said while walking to the door.

She followed him, as the drunken man shot her a sly smile and let out some confused almost cheering words.

"Who would that be?" she asked as he held the door open for her and she went outside.

"You might know since he's the one teaching you history" Damon said.

Elena stopped at her tracks.

"What? Mr. Saltzman?" she said surprised.

"That would be the one… history teacher at day, vampire hunter at night…" he stated.

"And you're friends with him?" she asked.

"Who said anything about friendship?"

"This have been one hell of a crazy day…" Elena said as they walk to Damon's car. "And something tells me it's only the beginning."

"You got that right."

"_I dare you to move_

_Like today never happened"_

_Dare You To Move - Switchfoot_


	4. Just a step from the edge

"_Who's gonna fight for the weak  
>Who's gonna make 'em believe<br>I've got a hero  
>Livin in me<br>I'm gonna fight for what's right  
>Today I'm speaking my mind<br>And if it kills me tonight…"_

"Wait! How come you're not turning to dust right now? I thought you said sun was fatal for vampires."

Damon gave her a small smile; they were both in his car headed to see her history teacher, if _that_ made any sense. He raised his right hand, showing her a big old ring in his finger.

"I have a ring, it protects me" he explained. "I'm surprise it took you this long to notice, since you're becoming such an expert at vampire killing."

Elena nodded.

"I had a lot in my mind" she added. "So… should I wait for you to sparkle?"

He let out a fake laugh.

"And she makes jokes too!" he said sarcastically. "Adorable…"

"Well, you out of anyone should appreciate some humor; after all, you did take mine and my best friend's fear as a _good fun _if I remember it correctly" she said pointedly.

Damon rolled his eyes.

"Hey! I got an idea, how about we make this trip in silence? Maybe you should take a nap…" he said. "I bet you're much more fun when you're asleep."

Elena smiled at that. Good, now he was the one annoyed.

"No, won't do. I have more questions" she said lightly.

"Of course you have…"

"Who's Katherine?" she asked simply.

He almost drove off the road.

"How…? What… I mean, what you mean by that?" he stumbled through the words.

"I'm not sure if you remember, Damon, but I was kind of there when that vampire said her name… Your reaction wasn't exactly normal" she explained.

Damon hesitated for a while considering how much he should tell her.

"I'm not sure…" he started. "The name did ring a bell, but that was it, no real connection with anyone I might know or remember."

"So, you call, falling to your knees and holding your head screaming, _ring a bell_?" she said skeptically. "Please…"

He stared at her for a while.

"I didn't scream." He finally said.

"Yes, you did." She smiled teasingly. "Screamed like a little g…"

"We're here." he interrupted her.

Damon stopped the car, and looked ahead; Elena followed his line of view and faced her college. He got out of the car and together they walked trough the halls to Mr. Saltzman's room. Elena stopped at the door and plugged her ear to it, hearing no sound coming from inside the room. Damon rolled his eyes and snapped the door open without hesitating.

"Another useful vampire trick? We're very good at hearing stuff…" he said before she even started to complain.

Elena opened her mouth and then closed it.

"And I guess you can hear minds as well?" she snapped.

"Only yours, sweetheart" he said seductively. "And you should really stop with the Twilight references..."

"And you should really stop reading the books, since you seem to recognize them all" she added.

Damon rolled his eyes.

"Who doesn't? That damn thing is everywh…"

"Not trying to interrupt anything, but can I help you with something? Seeing you almost broke down my door…"

They turned to the place where the voice came from and found Alaric Saltzman in his chair, his hands in his lap, and a confused expression on his face.

Damon smiled and got into the room.

"Hey Rick, I believe you know Elena…" he gestured for her to come in.

Alaric passed a hand through his hair.

"Don't tell me she's compelled, Damon, I thought we had an agreement. No attacks in this city." he said tiredly.

"I'm not compelled." Elena hurried to say. "But he's not exactly following to his part of the bargain either, you see, two days ago…"

"Oh, for crying out loud, would you let that go?" Damon exclaimed.

Elena got ready to answer him, but Alaric stopped her.

"So, you just wanted a quiet place to fight, or am I actually necessary here?" he asked.

Damon stared at her for a while, before facing Alaric.

"Yes, actually, I need…"

"We" Elena interrupted him.

He looked at her unfazed.

"Fine… _We_ need some information" he corrected himself.

They told Alaric what had happened and the teacher listened to all of it seeming unaffected.

"I can't tell you I didn't suspect something was going on around here" he said finally. "I was about to call you, Damon, there's been some weird vampire action this past few days. I've been hearing some rumors… Bad ones, I assure you"

"What do you mean?" Elena asked.

Alaric stared at her for a while before answering.

"I didn't know it was you, Elena, but apparently some girl is being hunted. There's a big price on your head, I can tell you that" he said. "I guess it all just fits now"

"Any rumors on why is that?" Damon asked.

"Not really… But I suggest you to stay home at night, and make sure your friends do it too" he said. "I'm going to look into it, I promise, at least I have a name now…"

A cracking noise invaded the room and the three of them looked at the door alarmed. Alaric stood up instantly, but Damon stopped him.

"I'll go" he said, indicating Elena with his head. "Keep an eye on her… She likes playing hero."

Alaric nodded as Damon left the room. Elena watched as he closed the door behind him.

"It's probably nothing." Alaric said when he saw the look on her face. "He'll be fine."

She looked at him surprised.

"Yeah… Sure." she shrugged unconvincingly. "Whatever…"

"So you said he recognized the name?" he asked, as he went back to sit on his chair.

"What?"

"Damon. You said he reacted to the name." he explained it.

"Oh. Yeah, he doesn't want to admit it, but there was definitely a reaction." she said.

Alaric nodded.

"That's interesting, you see, I don't think he remembered much since…" he hesitated looking at her confused face. "He didn't tell you, did he?" he guessed.

"But you will." she said simply.

Alaric sighed.

"Damon doesn't remember much of his past, he found himself in some wood in a small city named Mystic Falls, I'm not sure if you're familiar with it." he said.

Elena nodded surprised.

"I was born there actually." she said.

"Oh… That's some coincidence." he commented. "Anyway, aside from what happened after that, he doesn't remember much. I'm impressed that this name rang any bell whatsoever. We've been looking for any track of his past for ages and nothing… And now, out of nowhere…"

"So, for how long have you guys known each other…?" she asked.

"About ten years, we met in college. I had no idea he was a vampire of course and he had no idea I was a hunter… Funny how things happen." he laughed a little. "Then, of course, he changed my wife, so I kind of figured it out"

"He did what?"

"Oh… It's not what it seems, she asked him to do so… He didn't know it was my wife… It's a messy story." he hurried to explain.

"I can see that…" she agreed.

"It all worked out in the end."

"But how could you possibly forgive him for doing that?" she asked.

"How could I not? You see, Elena, being a vampire isn't as simple as it seems." he explained. "They're hungry for us, in the same way you're hungry for cow's meat, I guess… The fact that he even avoids killing anyone is already a rare trait in a vampire. They're hunters, you can't ask them to run from their nature, but some of them, like Damon, already try to. And trust me… That's a lot for them."

Elena nodded.

"So he really screamed?" Alaric asked with a playful smile.

She laughed.

"No, I didn't."

They turned to find Damon walking in, an annoyed expression on his face.

"So, anything?" Elena asked.

"Yeah, Katherine was there, she was trying to take a soda from the machine and it fell on the floor, she's sorry for the disturbance." he said sarcastically. "No, probably some cat or whatever... We should be going though; the sun is almost gone."

Elena nodded.

"Thanks, Mr. Saltzman." she said.

"Rick. And you're welcome; I'll try to find out more about what's going on." he said with a smile. "Take care of yourself."

"I will." she said.

"You too, Damon. Something tells me you're right in the middle of all of this."

Damon nodded, patting Alaric lightly at the arm.

"Thanks, Rick. See you later…"

They left the building and got into Damon's car in silence.

"Are you okay?" he asked after they were in the road for a while and she still hadn't said anything.

She gave him a small smile.

"Yeah… Just a little shaken up I guess. It's a lot to take in." she said.

"You've been handling it all pretty well so far. Don't ask too much from yourself." he said.

Elena stared at him surprised, sometimes she really felt like he could read her mind.

"I won't." she agreed.

They kept in silence until they reached her house.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Maybe even before that…" he raised his eyebrows suggestively.

Elena rolled her eyes and got out of the car. At the last minute though, she bended over the window and faced him.

"If I haven't said it yet…" she started. "Thanks"

"I needed the information as well, Elena." he said nonchalantly.

"Yeah… but you didn't need to save me last night." she said simply, a small smile playing on her lips when he didn't came up with an answer for it. "So, thank you."

He nodded, accepting it.

"Good night, Damon." she said heading to the house.

"Good night, Elena." he whispered.

* * *

><p>Damon kept staring at the house for while after she left. A small smile tugging at the corner of his lips, one that he didn't want to admit was forming. What was about this girl that made so… <em>human<em>? She made him angry, annoyed, worried and - God forbid – even happy sometimes. He brought his hand to his temple, massaging it slowly… That had been one hell of a week.

"That was simply adorable…"

He instantly looked outside his window looking for the source of the voice, but there was nothing there.

"Try again." he heard a whisper even closer to him.

He looked at the passenger sit and there she was. Her hair was curled, and there was a cockiness in her expression that he wasn't used to see, but aside from that she was all…

"Elena?" he said.

She made a face.

"Ouch… You really forgot me, Damon. I'm hurt." She said with a pout. "Typical man, you promised me eternal love, and just forgot about it the first chance you got... I'm disappointed"

Then it came again, the memories, but this time was _Elena in a corset running through the fields, and there was someone with her._

His head exploded. _A man, there was man with her. He was important, is important, who was him?_ He let out a growl.

"What is happening to me?" he gasped.

She answered something but he couldn't hear anymore.

_The man. They were friends. More than that, they were family. Brothers._

"Stefan." Damon let out with a breath.

And there was only darkness.

"…_I will be ready to die"_

_Hero - Skillet_


	5. Replacing this pain with something numb

**Okay, so I took a lot of libertys in this chapter. Everything happened just like in the show until the point where Katherine changed the brother, from there on... just keep in mind that this is AU... LOL Thanks for the reviews, I'll try to update more often... ;)**

"_Something has been taken from deep inside of me  
>A secret I've kept locked away no one can ever see<br>Wounds so deep they never show they never go away  
>Like moving pictures in my head <em>

_For years and years they've played"_

* * *

><p>"<em><strong>I love you, Damon, and only you. Stefan… Stefan is necessary." She took a deep breath and stared at him seriously. "Can you understand that? Can you trust me?"<strong>_

_**Damon looked at her and for the life of him, he couldn't say "no". He knew it was the right answer, he knew that the right path was the one facing his back, the safer path, the one that she wouldn't walk with him. But he had been captured in her smile, in her eyes, from the moment he had seen her, and there was no coming back now.**_

"_**Just promise me he will be safe." He said in a low voice. "After I… You… After we leave. I don't want him to know any of this; I don't want him to know about what you really are, about what I'm going to be, can I have your word on that?"**_

"_**Yes, you have my word." She said, and then a smile crept on her face. "But you can have so much more than that…"**_

_**He couldn't help but smile, his eyes closed and he felt her hand coming to rest on his cheek, followed by the soft feel of her lips in his. It didn't felt wrong, but it never felt right either. He brushed it of, convincing himself that the bad feeling came only from the sense that he was betraying his brother, and that everything would be fine. Stefan would be fine, his father would be fine. And he… He would be with Katherine, once and for all.**_

* * *

><p>His head hurt. No, that was an understatement, he felt like his whole brain had just exploded. Damon tried to remember what had happened but everything was foggy. He let out a growl when a particulate sharp pain went through his head.<p>

"Sorry about that." A woman's voice hit him. "But that's the consequence of being too stubborn."

His eyes snapped open and he regret it instantly. The light pierced through him, and he blinked a few times before actually adjusting his sight. He was laid down on a cold floor, only a stone ceiling flashing in his line of view. Slowly he tried to get up, feeling like he was leaving his brain on the floor in the process.

Damon looked around to find he was in some kind of tomb. And he wasn't alone. There were a few vampires by the corners, all watching, waiting for any signal to attack, and all of them very young, he noticed. Right in the center of it, sitting on a coffin, with a sly smile plastered on her face, there was her.

"Katherine." He said.

Her facial expression changed from careless, to slightly curious; her head cocked to the side as she watched him.

"Yes." She agreed. "And what else do you remember?"

"Stefan." He said. "You brought him too. You changed him too… You betrayed me." He let out in an angry whisper.

"And what else?" she insisted unaffected.

He tried, but that was it. He and Katherine, Katherine and his brother, that was all there was. He shook his head and she understood it.

Slowly, like she was approaching a hurt puppy, she walked to him and knelled, so that they were in the same height level.

"Now, I want you to listen to me, Damon." She said, her hand coming to rest on his cheek in a very familiar way. "What you're remembering, it's not entirely truth."

He stared at her confused.

"I can tell you the real truth, if you let me." She continued.

He didn't react, mostly because he didn't know how to, so she kept going. She got up and took a deep breath as she walked back to sit on the coffin.

"Once upon a time…" she started ironically. "There were two brothers, and they were in love with the same girl."

_Katherine running down the fields, Stefan was chasing her. He __was watching, forcing himself not to see the obvious._

"And though she only loved one of them, she needed the other. She needed him to save herself."

"_I love you, Damon, and only you. Stefan… Stefan is necessary."_

"There was an evil vampire – Klaus - that was after her. He wanted her dead, so she thought that maybe if she gave this vampire something better than herself, maybe he would let her go… And do you know what's the only thing better than a Petrova doppelganger? A true ripper… they are extremely rare to find… people who are born to be a vampire, people who are born to kill. And she could see that in the other brother, she could see his thirsty for power, she could see the way his blood seemed to run faster when he was close to death. So she needed him, she needed him changed. And more than anything she needed the brother she loved to understand it." Katherine stopped for a second as she contemplated the place around her, like she had been in another reality for a while. A small smile graced her expression as she kept going. "And he did. He understood her; he said he would do anything for her. So, when the time came, she changed both of then. The ripper was confused and hurt, but he was also happy, because that was what he meant to be, and the lovers knew that one day he would understand it, he would forgive them."

Damon kept staring at her, as pieces of memories started to come back to him.

"_How could you do this to me?" Stefan yelled._

"_Try to understand it, it was out of my power to stop it" Damon answered him. "I didn't…"_

"They contacted the evil vampire then; they contacted him and offered him the switch. And he accepted it; he said it would be enough, that she would be safe." Her voice interrupted his thoughts. "But he lied; he wanted them both, she was naïve enough to believe that there was some honor in him, that he was a man of his word. The price they paid was high. The ripper betrayed them while he was still consumed with hate, he allied with the evil vampire and together they locked the girl and his brother in a cell… Until one day, they managed to escape."

"_I found a way out of here." Damon said in a whisper, __looking at her through the iron bars. "We'll leave today."_

"_What about Stefan?" she asked._

"_He made his choice." He stated simply._

Damon brought his hands to his head, as the memories kept sinking in.

"They didn't make it too far. The evil vampire's brother, Elijah, found them. And while her lover was somehow strong enough to resist from being compelled, the girl was tired and weak. She was compelled to stay, to forget, to die. And her lover fought so badly not to be compelled, that his mind couldn't take it. He forgot all about her, he forgot everything." She finished, as a tear traced a path through her cheek.

He kept staring at her, as he remembered running, remembered fighting, remembered waking up in that woods, feeling like there was something extremely important happening, though he didn't knew what.

Katherine stood up again and came to sit beside him.

"Do you understand it now?" she whispered.

He nodded, and she smiled. His feelings for her came back to him, the way she kissed him, the way she looked at him, the way he felt when any other man came closer to her. She was probably saying the truth; he could feel that, _that_ was the truth.

"Why now?" he asked then. "What made you remember? Why took you so long to find me? What is this vampire army for?"

She nodded, and rested a hand on his hair.

"It's all about her." She started. "Elijah took compassion of us, he saw me struggling to remember you all this time, and he found a way to keep me alive. A way for us to be together, finally… There is another doppelganger. So, if I manage to catch her, if I bring her to him, he convinced his brother, the evil vampire – Klaus – he convinced him to let me go."

He looked at her as he understood what she meant.

"Can you bring her to me?" She said. "I need her, Damon. I need Elena."

_No_. The thought came to him faster than he could consider it. And just as the certain that he wouldn't bring Elena to death filled his mind, the trust he had on Katherine's words started to fade. She was asking him to kill someone for her. And maybe there was a point in which he could have loved her, but there wasn't a possibility that someone in that level of selfishness could have ever loved him back.

He tried to maintain his face expressionless, as he nodded. She gave him a smile.

"But why can't you catch her yourself." He asked.

"I can't leave this tomb." She said.

"Why?"

Katherine opened her mouth to answer, but she was interrupted.

"Because I won't let her."

Damon looked at the place where the voice had come from and a sharp pain crossed his head as he found the source of it. Getting out of the darkness, a bored expression on his face, arms crossed in his chest, and lethal look in his eyes, was Stefan.

"Hello, brother." He said.

And before Damon knew what was happening, everything came back to him.

* * *

><p><em>Damon woke up and found Stefan there. She had changed him too, she had betrayed him. <em>

"_How could you do this to me?" he yelled at his brother._

"_Try to understand it, it was out of my power to stop it" Stefan answered him. "I didn't know! She did something to me… she…"_

"_She compelled you…" he realized. _

_**There was an evil vampire that was after her. He wanted her dead, so she thought that maybe if she gave this vampire something better than herself, maybe he would let her go…**_

"_You'll come with me, Stefan. You'll accept being Klaus's reaper, he will do what you want, he will spare me if you ask him to." Katherine said._

_Emily kept both of them locked in the house._

_**And though she only loved one of them, she needed the other…**_

"_You'll c__ome with me, Stefan, or you can say goodbye to your brother here."_

_**They contacted the evil vampire then**__**… **_

"_I__ do whatever you want, as long as you spare Katherine." Stefan said, as he knelled in front of Klaus. He gestured Emily with his head. "She's a powerful witch and she assures it, some years from now, there will be another doppelganger." _

"_I'll take your offer… and hers as well." He answered._

…_**The ripper betrayed them…**_

_Damon and Stefan looked at Katherine, and before any of them could do anything Elijah grabbed Stefan by the collar, and their men grabbed Damon._

"_You will be a reaper, and you will be forever loyal to Klaus." Elijah said, staring into Stefan's eyes._

_Katherine gave him a look._

…_**she only loved one of them…**_

"_You'll always love Katherine." He said finally._

"_No!" Damon yelled but it was too late. _

…_**and together they locked the girl and his brother in a cell…**_

_Damon __laid down in his cell, weak and hopeless, when a small voice reached him._

"_There's a hole in it…"_

_He recognized Emily's voice. _

"_There's a hole in what?"_

"_He never told him to forget about you, he never told him to not believe you. And though he told him to be loyal to Klaus, Stefan was never ordered not to run."_

_Damon understood it._

"_Why should I trust you?"_

"_Katherine betrayed me as well… I need someone to save my family… I need someone to make sure my bloodline survives… I need you to escape, Damon." _

_**Until one day, they managed to escape**__**…**_

"_I found a way out of here." Damon said in a whisper, looking at him through the iron bars. "We'll leave today."_

_Stefan stared at him, a confused expression all over his face._

"_What about Katherine?" he asked._

"_She made her choice." He stated simply._

_**They didn't make too far. The evil vampire's brother, Elijah, found them. And while her lover was somehow strong enough to resist from being compelled, the girl was tired and weak**__**…**_

"_You'll forget about your brother, you'll only answer to Klaus…" Elijah said, as Stefan nodded._

"_Damn it, Stefan, fight him!" Damon yelled but it was in vain. Elijah took him by the collar. _

"_I won't kill you. It would be such a waste…" he said as he pushed Damon against a tree. "But apparently it's too dangerous for you to have your own mind." He locked eyes with him. "You'll be loyal to Klaus, and only him. You won't do anything unless he tells you to."_

"_No…" Damon struggled._

"_What's happening?" Katherine asked while she held Stefan._

"_He's mind is too strong, you never compelled him as a human, am I correct?" he asked._

"_It was never necessary."_

"_He is fighting it. I never thought it was possible…" he stated in a whisper. "You, my friend, takes being stubborn to a whole new level…" _

_Elijah kept chanting his orders._

_**And her lover fought so badly **__**not to be compelled, that his mind couldn't take it. He forgot all about her, he forgot everything.**_

* * *

><p>"You seem surprised." Stefan stated. "I thought by now you would have remembered everything."<p>

Damon kept staring at his brother without really knowing what to do. He looked at Katherine, she had a look of pure love on her face, and he wondered if she had missed her call as an actress. He felt like killing her right in that moment, but he took control of himself before acting impulsively. It was important that she thought he had believed all of her story, she needed to trust in his love for her or he didn't hold a chance of getting out of that place.

"I do." He said coldly and tried to give his most gentle smile to her. "So, we have a chance… I just need to catch Elena, and we're free to go."

He stared at Stefan for an assurance, and started wondering why they were creating this whole scenario. If they needed Elena so badly, they just needed to go and take her. Ok, maybe not Katherine, but Stefan could do that, he had the ring; he could just walk into her college and compel her to come to the tomb with him. _Only she couldn't be compelled_, that was one reason. He wondered if an original could compel her.

"That's the agreement, yes." Stefan said; his face still expressionless.

"Now, Damon, this is very important." Katherine said. "She needs to come inside the tomb willingly or else she won't be able to get in. Do you understand it?"

He did understand. So, that was the whole reason why he was there, why the whole play had been set up. They needed him to convince Elena to come into the tomb.

"Why is that?" he asked.

"Because Klaus locked me up here, he didn't trust me enough to just set me free, of course." She explained. "And he ordered one of his witches to put a spell on the entrance; no one can get in unless they want to. That way I wouldn't compel any human inside."

"But I saw you... You were in my car. How?" he asked.

"I was in your mind. Calling you, Damon, and you came." She explained.

"And how are you supposed to feed?"

"With what he brings to me…" she gestured Stefan with her head. "It's the only way of keeping an eye on me, apparently. In theory Stefan should go and just compel her to come, but apparently it's not that simple with her."

He nodded and tried to figure what part of her statement was actually true. If her deal with Klaus was still on, then there was no reason for her to be prisoner.

"I'll do it." He said in his most devoted voice. "I'll go right now if you want me to."

She nodded tearfully and he for a moment he felt like laughing. There they were, his brother had no idea what was happening, Katherine was pretending to love him and he was pretending to believe it. It was almost as the past had come to life again.

He made a show of caressing her cheek and gave her a devoted look, before standing up and going through the tunnel he guessed would lead to the entrance.

"I'll be back soon." He promised, as he headed for the way out.

She just nodded again.

He walked to the end of the tunnel and found himself in the old town's cemetery. He ran as fast as he could, trying to figure what he should do next.

* * *

><p>Katherine wiped the tears of her face and got up annoyed. She looked at one of the vampires around her.<p>

"Follow him." She said.

The vampire nodded and left without any questions.

She let out a breath and stared at the shadows.

"You can get out now." She said.

"Do you think it was enough?" Elijah asked, as he got out of the shadows and into the center of the room. "Did he believe you?"

She looked at her fingernails.

"Maybe for a second... But I lost him at some point." She said simply.

"Excuse me?"

Katherine let out a humorless laugh.

"I know Damon… better than that, I know _my_ Damon." She said. "That wasn't him."

"Then why did you let him escape?" he asked.

"He'll be back." She answered in a sing-song voice.

"How can you be so sure?"

"I have something of his interest." She said simply, looking at Stefan. "Right, Stefan?"

"Anything you say, my love." he answered with a smile.

"_Sometimes I think of letting go and never looking back  
>And never moving forward so there'd never be a past"<em>

_Easier to Run – Linkin Park_


	6. All I Need

"_I'm dying to catch my breath  
>Oh why don't I ever learn?<br>I've lost all my trust__;  
>though I've surely tried to turn it around<br>Can you still see the heart of me?  
>All my agony fades away<br>when you hold me in your embrace"_

Damon went straight to the top of the tree and stared at her window apprehensively. He was being followed, he could sense the other vampire miles away from him, and he started wondering if Katherine was in her right senses in letting those immature vampires do her job. "I guess she didn't have much of an option" he thought, as he considered what was actually happening between her and Klaus, to make the original feel like he should lock her up in a tomb.

His line of thought suddenly went blank when he saw her getting into her bedroom. A small smile escaped him, she was fine. He noticed she had a worried expression on her face though. She walked to her nightstand and grabbed her phone, dialing the numbers hastily. It rang for a couple times, before he heard someone picking up on the other end of the line.

"Nothing." He heard Alaric's voice declare before Elena could say a thing.

She closed her mouth looking even more worried.

"It's not his style to just disappear, Rick…" she stated. "He must be somewhere."

"I looked everywhere, Elena, I asked everyone…" Alaric answered, his voice tired. "I agree with you that it's not his style, but honestly, it's been a week, we would have heard of him by now."

_A week? _Damon's eyebrows furrowed, he couldn't had possibly be gone that much time. He wondered how much time he had spent unconscious.

Elena took a deep breath before answering.

"Then, they must have taken him…" she said finally.

There was a sigh at the other end of the line.

"Elena, we've been through that. If he had been caught, they would have contacted us by now." Alaric said simply.

"He wouldn't do it, Rick, I just know that, ok?" she said, and Damon was surprise with how convinced her tone was. "He's not afraid of being an asshole; if he had decided to leave he would have come and told me so. Damon may be a lot of things, but he's not a coward."

There was a moment of silence.

"You're right." Alaric said finally. "I'll keep looking."

"Good."

"And Elena…?"

"Yes?"

"Do not, under any circumstance, get out of the house by night, okay?" Alaric said firmly.

Elena hesitated for a while, before finally nodding.

"Okay…"

With that he hanged up. Elena turned off her phone and sat on her bed, a hand coming to rest on her forehead, as she took a long breath.

"Where are you Damon?" she whispered.

He almost laughed at the scene. So, there was a bunch of crazy vampires searching for her head on a plate, and her only concern was if _he_ was okay. He kept staring at her and wondering if one day he would be capable of fully understand the puzzle that was Elena_. Probably not_.

He jumped out of the tree and ran to the opposite side, heading to the bar where he knew he would find Alaric.

* * *

><p>Alaric took another drink from the hands of the bar man, and let out a breath. At the pace he was going, it would be easier to just take the whole bottle.<p>

"Let me guess, hard day?"

He almost dropped the glass as he looked to find Damon sitting beside him.

"What the hell, man?" he exclaimed. "I've been looking everywhere for you!"

"So I've heard…"

Damon gestured the barman for a drink, and stared at Alaric's surprised face.

"Katherine caught me…" he said finally.

"Kather…? The girl? The one you remembered?"

"That would be the one." He agreed.

Alaric kept staring at him, waiting for answers. Damon hesitated in how to tell everything that happened.

"I remembered…" he started. "I _remember_ everything."

Alaric nodded. He reached for his phone in his pocket.

"Let me call Elena… she has been like crazy after you." He said. "Just a second."

Damon nodded, as he dialed the numbers.

Elena answered in the first ring.

"Did you found him?" she asked instantly.

"He found me, actually." Alaric answered and there was a relieved sigh on the other end of the line.

"Okay, where are you? I'll meet you guys…"

Damon shook his head slowly.

"Elena, just stay home." Alaric understood. "He's fine. We'll meet you as soon as possible, I promise."

There was an angry silence on the other end, and Damon could almost hear her brain working out a way of convincing them to let her come.

Damon took the phone out of Alaric's hand.

"Elena, stay home, or I'll come there and tie you up to your bed myself." He said.

He heard her breath catching on the other end and a smile crept over his face.

"So you really are fine. Nice to see you chivalries are also untouched." She said ironically, but there was a smile in her voice. "I'll stay put, but come soon… I want to know what happened."

"Will do." He said in a sing song voice, throwing the phone back to Alaric.

He heard them saying goodbye, as he turned another glass.

"So, what happened?" Alaric asked.

"It's long a story…" he answered.

Alaric nodded and took a sip from his drink.

"Good." He said. "I love those."

* * *

><p>Elena let out a breath she didn't realized she was holding and smiled without really meaning to.<p>

"Elena?"

She looked up and found Bonnie on her doorstep. The smile left her face immediately, it wasn't fast enough though. Bonnie gave her a knowing smile.

"What happened?" she said, getting into the room and sitting on Elena's bed.

"Nothing." Elena answered mechanically.

"Hmmm… and that nothing has anything to do with the nothing that made you so gloomy this past weak?" Bonnie asked.

"…No…?" she tried.

Bonnie let out a laugh.

"So, who's the guy?" she asked.

Elena stood up immediately.

"What? No…" she answered. "No guy… no guy at all."

"Uhum…" Bonnie kept laughing. "Excuse me, Elena, but I know you for as long as I can remember, and I think I can tell when your mood swings come from feelings towards a guy…"

"Oh please…" Elena let out annoyed. "Who even talk like that? _Feelings towards a guy_…" she mimicked her fried.

"Don't change subjects Elena!" Bonnie said.

"Elena!" Caroline's voice reached the room before her.

The girl came into the bedroom with a post card on her hand.

"This one is from France…" she said giving the card to Elena.

Elena took the postcard and a smile came to her face when she recognized the handwriting.

"So, do you think Jeremy will ever come back from his backpacking?" Bonnie commented.

"Yeah… what is it with you Gilberts and this need to feel free?" Caroline pondered.

Elena only let out a chuckle as she read her brother's message.

_Have you heard about the Eiffel tower?_

_It's a big deal around here!_

_Pun intended. LOL_

_Love,_

_Jeremy_

"Show off…" she whispered.

Elena hadn't seen Jeremy in almost a year, and she missed him badly, but he was happy; she could tell by the infinite number of postcards she kept receiving that he had find his freedom in traveling, just as she had find hers in getting out of Mystic Falls.

"So, I made some mac'n'cheese. It looks awful, but who know, it might taste okay…" Caroline said. "You guys want some?"

"Well, after this great advertisement, who could possibly deny it…?" Bonnie commented, as she got of the bed and shot Elena a "we'll talk later" look.

"Elena?" Caroline asked.

"Yeah, sure." She agreed.

They ate their food while Bonnie told them for the tenth time the same story about some Luke guy she had met at the convention.

"… and did I tell you he said I probably came from some extremely old witch lineage? My grandma used to tell me that, but I never truly believed it… but hey, who knows? I might be a powerful witch someday…" she said jokingly.

"Yeah right… and vampires are just at the next bar waiting for us…" Caroline commented ironically.

Elena spit some of her water. Her friends looked at her surprised; she tried and turned the shock into somewhat of a laugh.

"Good one, Car…" she commented with a fake laugh, and they didn't look slightly convinced.

"Elena, is everything okay?" Caroline asked. "You've been acting weirdly lately…"

The doorbell rang at that moment and Elena stood up immediately.

"That's for me…" she said getting out of the kitchen.

She headed for the door and opened it, finding Alaric on her doorstep. He gave her an apologetically small smile.

"Is okay for me to come in?" he asked.

She gestured him to keep quiet and checked to see if Caroline and Bonnie were still in the kitchen.

"Follow me…" she whispered and went to her bedroom.

"Elena, who is it?" Bonnie's voice reached her.

"It's a friend from college; I have some work to do." She answered. "Thanks for the dinner Car, it wasn't awful!"

Her friend's laughter reached her and she gestured Alaric to get into her room. She closed the door behind them.

"Hi… sorry, but I don't think it's good for them to see you visiting me." She explained.

"I couldn't agree more…" he said nonchalantly. "The lesser they know, better"

She nodded.

"So…" she started.

"So, he's fine." He said.

"I've heard." she said. "Where is him?"

"He told me to come…" Alaric hesitated for a while. "Okay, maybe he's not that great, Elena…"

"What do you mean…?" she asked.

"Katherine got to him…"

"Katherine? The one who send a hundred of vampires for my head?" she exclaimed.

"Yes. Apparently they're old friends…" he said ironically.

He told her the whole story, and she felt like sitting after he was finished.

"So she betrayed him… and put his brother in some kind of slavery state…" she commented shocked. "And now she's trying to do it again? Wow… that's a whole new level of being a bitch…"

He looked at her surprised.

"Elena, did you heard the part involving a sacrifice? _Your_ sacrifice…" he asked.

"Yeah, yeah…" she answered. "It all comes back to the same thing, right? There's a bunch of vampires trying to kill me… that's old news, I guess…"

Alaric let out a chuckle.

"Anyway, he's acting like everything is fine and stuff, but I know him…" he stated. "He's not good in this state of mind; he'll end up doing something impulsively. And, trust me, impulsive Damon is no fun…"

"I can imagine that." She agreed.

They stood in silence for a while.

"So, what should we do now…?" she said finally.

He laughed humorlessly.

"I have no idea…" he said. "Technically, we would only need to keep you safe for the next months and the sacrifice would come, Klaus would use Katherine instead of you and no harm would be done, but…"

"Stefan." She said.

"Yes… there's no way of knowing what Klaus would do to him if Katherine died. One thing I assure you…" he said. "He won't let go of his ripper that easily."

She sighed.

"Damn, I could use a drink." Alaric commented.

"Kitchen, first cabinet, bottom drawer." She said.

He looked at her surprised.

"What about your friends?"

"They're probably asleep by now, just don't make any noise."

He nodded, leaving the room.

The moment the door closed behind him, she let herself fall apart. Her hands came to cover her eyes, and before she knew there were already tears streaming down her face. How she had come to that? It was too messed up. One week ago and should would have laugh in the face of whom told her vampires existed. Now, not only she was allying to them, the most powerful one wanted her dead. She took a deep breath, trying to regain control of herself, but it appeared to be useless.

"Good to know you're not made of steel…"

She jumped when the voice reached her. Sitting on her window, with a weak smirk on his face, there was Damon.

"No, I mean really…" he continued. "You had to be overcome by all that's happening at some point. It took you too long, I'm impressed."

She rolled her eyes, and whipped the tears out of her face.

"Hey, don't stop at my account." He said. "I'm not in the greatest mood either."

Elena stared at him, and suddenly it hit her. Though she was in a bad situation, she probably couldn't even begin to understand the chaos of feelings at the moment.

"In my researches…" she started. "It said vampires felt everything with more intensity, is it true?"

He didn't answer, his eyes went to his feet and he looked lost for a moment. Just for a moment. The smirk came back quickly enough.

"But we can turn it off also… our feelings." He said in a light tone. "So, you know… cheers to mother nature!" he raised an imaginary glass.

"But you don't." she stated. "You don't turn it off."

He rolled his eyes.

"Of course I do."

"You don't." she said in a whisper.

He didn't answer this time, an empty look overcame his features and he just kept staring ahead. It was more than she could take.

Without thinking, she went to him and threw her arms around his neck, hiding her face in it.

He didn't move, but she couldn't care less. Another tear came to her eyes, and she knew that this time, she was crying for him.

"I'm sorry" she whispered.

Slowly she felt him reacting. His arms surrounded her hesitatingly, and his head dipped to her shoulder. She held him closer and closed her eyes. And suddenly all was well. She couldn't think of a single problem that could overcome her, a single fear that could break her. Elena Gilbert was in front of the biggest challenge of her life, and for the first time in a long time, she felt completely safe.

His smell surrounded her, and she felt the need to get her nose closer to his neck. Her hands slowly made their path to his hair, and a small smile escaped her when she felt his breath caught up in his throat. And that's when she realized what she was doing.

As quickly as she had hugged him, she let go, walking some steps to the opposite side of him.

He stared at her confused, and there was a ghost of a smile on his lips. She tried not to concentrate on them, looking at everywhere but him.

"Elena…" he started.

"Elena!" Alaric burst into the room, making her jump.

He stopped at the doorstep, looking from Elena to Damon.

"Hey… I thought you wouldn't come…" he commented to Damon.

"And miss the party?" he answered staring at the scotch on Alaric's hand.

"Oh yeah… but that's not what I…" he said. "Come with me."

He left the room, and Elena headed to the door to follow him.

"Elena…" Damon started.

"I think we better go; it sounded important, just don't make any noise on your way to the kitchen, 'because Caroline has a very light sleep…"

"Elena…"

"She wakes up when I go after a glass of water in the middle of the night… I mean, it's almost scary, who wakes when…?"

He walked to her, and put one hand at each side of her face, silencing her immediately.

"Elena…" he started. "Thank you"

He stared into her eyes, and a second later he had left the room.

She let out a breath she didn't realized she was holding.

"You're welcome." She whispered.

"_Make my heart a better place"_

_All I Need – Within Temptation_


	7. I'm not running away

**Sorry about the waiting, it's really surprising me how often I have to say that… lol**

**Anyway, hope you'll enjoy it… and thanks for the reviews, they're really, **_**reaaaaally**_** important for me. **

"_Wild wolves always stared me out_

_I'm not running away_

_(…)_

_And my soul is dark a place…"_

Elena stood still in the same place for a while. Somehow she could still smell his scent in the room, or maybe it had found its way trough her hair, all that she knew is that it made her feel a little dizzy. When _that_ had happened? She couldn't even remember the moment when she had stopped hating him or the day she had started worrying about him and now she was… There was not a word for what she was feeling in that moment.

She shook her head and put the thought away. It didn't matter, it was a tough situation, she was confused and fragile, and that was it. No need to worry about it. She rushed to the kitchen trying to get her mind back on the Katherine issue.

The light on the kitchen was on, she got there to find Damon sitting on the balcony, a small bottle on his hand, as Alaric went trough her cabinet.

"What's going on?" she asked, but neither of them seemed to acknowledge her question.

"So, what do you think?" Alaric asked Damon.

He smelled the bottle and made a face.

"It's full of it." He answered. "What tipped you off?"

"Aniverv… is written on the tag." Alaric said, as Damon turned the bottle on his hand and read the tag on it. "It's a code for hunters."

"Vervain…" Damon whispered.

"Excuse me? Will any of you explain me what's going on?" Elena said annoyed.

"Is this yours?" Damon raised the bottle. Elena recognized it.

"Yes, my uncle made it for me." She explained. "It's for tea, it helps keeping me calm; some kind of family receipt. Why?"

Damon and Alaric exchanged a look.

"It's full with vervain." Damon stated. "I guess we finally figured out what's making you so impossible to compel."

Elena stared at him shocked.

"What? But… it doesn't contain vervain, I'm pretty sure…" she stumbled through the words. "It's not on the tag…"

"Exactly, Elena." Alaric explained. "If it was, we could take it as some random coincidence, but it has Aniverv written in it, it means that whoever made this knew what they were doing."

"It's meant to protect me." she realized.

Alaric nodded. Damon jumped of the balcony.

"So, tell us a little bit more about this uncle of yours." he said.

"Uncle John? I don't know… he's not that close." she told them. "Even after my parent's death… Suddenly he was more worried about my state of mind than anything else, like who would take responsibility over me and brother, for instance. He let that to my juvenile aunt, the hard work, and just took upon himself to keep me sane. That's when he started sending me this…" she pointed at the bottle on Damon's hand. "It worked, so I took it. It never occurred to me that…"

"You were taking a vampire repelling instead of some soothing tea…" Damon agreed.

Elena just nodded.

"That's just crazy." she let out.

"Then I guess is just part of the lately routine…" Damon said ironically.

"John… Gilbert?" Alaric asked.

"Yes."

"I'll ask about him. If he's a hunter I should be able to find out." he stated.

Elena kept staring at the bottle on Damon's hand, wondering if all this time, her insensitive uncle was somehow trying to protect her of dangerous she didn't even know existed.

Alaric went to get his jacket and before she knew he was back at the kitchen trying to get her attention.

"I'll be back by the morning with news." he said as he left.

The door closed behind him and she let out a breath. She could feel Damon's eyes on her.

"I'm not going to start crying again." she warned.

"Oh well, a man can only hope…" he commented as he put the bottle back on the cabinet and took something else from it. "Shall we enjoy the leftovers?"

She looked up to find him already opening the scotch bottle and pouring her a drink.

"Upstairs…" she said as she got up.

"Sounds even better…" he said smugly.

"Shut up."

They went to her bedroom; Damon laid down on her bed, picking up her teddy bear and holding it against his chest, as she locked the door. She turned to him and a small smile tugged on her lips, it was a ridiculous and adorable sight at the same time. He patted the space beside him.

"There's enough room for both of us." he said with a smirk.

"I'm fine, thanks." Elena said as she sat on her bedside chair.

They sat in silence for a while.

"She looks exactly like you…" he whispered suddenly.

"What?"

"Katherine. You're a dead ringer of her." he explained. "I'm not sure if Alaric told you…"

"Oh… he said did say I was her doppelganger, but I…" she thought about it. "I guess I just didn't fully realize what it meant."

He let out a humorless laugh.

"You're opposites though…" he said. "It's weird, such physical similarities and yet completely different personalities."

"How could you…?" he looked at her and she hesitated. "How could you fall in love with her?"

Damon opened his mouth and closed it without a word. His hand went through his hair and he let out a breath before answering.

"When I met Katherine she was…" he closed his eyes. "She was everything I could never be; independent, careless, free… And it was different from everything I had ever known… I thought I could be myself with her; that she would understand what I was, maybe even love it…"

Elena nodded. She stared at him trying to imagine the human he once was.

"And what were you?"

He opened his eyes and stared at her. A light smile crept over his face.

"I was such a nerd…" he said with a chuckle. "Stefan was always the stronger brother, the mature one. He would be learning how to handle father's land, and I would be lost in books… he would hunt all kind of wild animals and would learn how to play football. He eagerly waited to go to the war, I ran back home as soon as I could."

"Why?" she asked. "Soldier's life didn't suit you?"

"Nah…" he laughed. "I was a coward, first sign of danger and I was already halfway home."

"Somehow I find that hard to believe."

"Oh, really?" he said nonchalantly.

"Yeah, _really_. I can believe that you were naive, or childish, but you really don't strike me as the coward type." she stated.

"Well, I was."

"Uhum…" she murmured unconvinced.

"So, what about you, sunshine?" he asked ironically.

"_What_ about me?"

"Well, since we're in the middle of such a heart-to-heart moment, you might as well open up a little bit too." he said simply.

Elena smiled and put her feet up on the bed, beside him.

"Well, there's not much to tell." she said. "Trust me… the last few day have been by far the most interesting ones in my life…"

"I'll take your word for that." he agreed.

"Anyway… It used to be a pretty dull life; school princess, perfect friends, perfect boyfriend, perfect family… And then…" she hesitated.

"And then…?" he insisted.

"My parents died in car accident." she said finally. "One night, some random guy decides to extend his night on a bar, drinks to much, loses control of the wheel and hits my parent's car. And just as simple as that, my life automatically turned upside down, everything started to feel wrong somehow." she sighed. "It felt wrong to be happy or to be sad; it felt wrong to feel anything at all. Life started to felt wrong. So I ran… I took the first chance I got to leave that town, hoping that somehow, being away from it would make it okay to be alive."

"Did it work? Are you okay with living?" he asked.

"I'm working on it…" she said simply.

"Well, you seem to have a pretty decent life around here." he stated. "That is… until I burst into your house and made your life a living nightmare."

"Oh yeah… there is that." she said lightly.

"I'm sorry about that by the way." he said nonchalantly. "In case I hadn't said it yet…"

She looked at him surprised.

"You hadn't…"

He nodded.

"So, there it is then, I really am… sorry."

"It really wasn't the nicest thing to do…"

"You're pushing it..."

Elena rolled her eyes.

"And there you go… ruined it."

The silence came back, but it was a comfortable one.

"I'm hungry." Elena stated suddenly.

Damon looked at her, but didn't say a thing.

"I'm going downstairs to grab a snack… Want some?" she asked without thinking.

"Sure…" he said with a smirk. "Will you bring me Caroline or Bonnie?"

She made a face, he laughed.

"I'm joking, Elena. Relax…"

"Yes, I forgot… humans are all jokes to you, right?" she said annoyed.

"Of course they are…"

"All of them?"

"Yep…"

"So you couldn't care less if I end up killed in this whole sacrifice thing, as long as you manage to save your brother in the process…" she said.

"And kill Katherine of course…" he answered.

"Of course…"

Elena rolled her eyes and left the room.

Damon stood on the same spot and tried to relax to the scent of her that surrounded him. It kept surprising him how every little thing that concerned Elena would disturb him. From her mood to her looks, he just couldn't be at ease with her. And somehow it always felt comfortable anyway, what just made it even more dangerous. He was never in control when he was with her, and there wasn't anything that Damon feared more than being out of control.

Suddenly a scream interrupted his thoughts; he immediately recognized Elena's voice, and before he could even think about it, he was running as fast as he could to the kitchen.

"Elena!" he yelled as he got there.

She was supporting herself on the kitchen's table, her head was down and her hair formed a curtain around her face. Damon noticed she was trembling. He slowly got closer to her.

"Elena…" he murmured softly. "Are you okay?"

She didn't answer; Damon put a hand on her shoulder making her lift her head and look at him. He realized then that her trembling didn't come from fear, or crying, she was laughing. Actually, she was almost sobbing.

"Oh my God…" she gasped between laughs. "I'm sorry… your face…"

He kept staring at her, worried.

"Elena, you're scaring me… what's going on?"

She got control of herself for a while, only to burst in laughter the next second.

"Elena!" he said frustrated. "What happened?"

"A spider…" she gasped. "I'm kind of scared of them…"

Damon stared at her and followed her line of sight to see a small spider hanging on the fridge's door.

"A spider?" he said.

She nodded and started laughing again. He looked at her and hesitated. His hands were sweating, his breath was uneven, Damon hadn't felt that scared in years; and all because of a damn spider. Before he could even realize it, he was laughing as well, so hard, that he could feel his stomach aching.

They stood like that for a while, both laughing, neither really knowing why. After some minutes Elena got control of herself, she took a breath and closed her eyes, causing some tears to fall from them. Instinctively Damon reached out to catch one with his finger. She opened her eyes, looking up at him; and suddenly all the fun was gone; all he could think was that she was way too close.

"You scared the hell out of me…" he whispered without thinking.

"I thought you didn't care." she answered.

"So did I." he stated simply.

Elena stared into his blue eyes transfixed; he looked so human in that moment, so vulnerable. It was almost like she could see his soul, and it was such a dark place, such a lonely one, that she could almost feel the pain that it contained. And yet, she just didn't want to look away.

"Damon…" she started in a whisper. "Why did you come home early from the army?"

He kept staring at her, and his thumb traced a soft path along her cheek.

"I couldn't bare the idea of killing someone." he answered honestly.

Elena nodded, because she understood it. She could see his human self, she could see how he was forced to change due a feeling that he had never asked for; she could see why he had done it for love, and how it must had hurt when he realized it was all a lie. Elena stared into his eyes and without stopping to consider it, without thinking if it was right, or even sane, she closed the small gap between their faces.

And she could almost hear the breath that got caught up in his throat when he felt her lips meeting his.

"…_But I know your love."_

_Wild Wolves - Athletic_


End file.
